NEWS FLASH President Goodluck Jonathan at the Eagle Square, Abuja PDP govs to Jonathan: Road to 2015 ’ll be rough – Punch After seeking the face of God, in quiet reflection with my family and having listened to the call of our people nationwide to run, I, Goodluck Ebele Azikiwe Jonathan, have accepted to re-present myself, on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party for re-election as the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria in the 2015 general elections.” With these words, President Goodluck Jonathan on Tuesday formally declared his intention to contest the election to the admiration of jubilant party faithful. Jonathan made several promises aimed at wooing the mammoth crowd but was reminded by the PDP Governors’ Forum that the road to the February 14 poll would be rough. Ironically, the declaration took place at the Eagle Square, Abuja, a venue for most national ceremonies which the Jonathan administration had in the past years avoided due to security reason. 30,000 Polling Units: Jega bows, suspends allocation - Vanguard In what appears to be a victory for common sense and decency, National Chairman of Nigeria’s Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, Professor Attahiru Jega, has bowed to pressure and suspended the execution of the allocation of the additional 30,000 Polling Units, PUs, across the country until after the 2015 general elections. The creation and allocation of the additional 30,000 PUs, had indeed become controversial, created a regional division in the Commission, and was already a matter of litigation. However, Professor Jega, after a widely publicised meeting of the Commission yesterday, sent out a message to Resident Electoral Commissioners, RECs, across the country announcing the suspension of the exercise. Ndoma-Egba seeks dissolution of Cross River PDP exco - Guardian • Accuses state chapter of scuttling national delegate election Senate Majority Leader, Victor Ndoma-Egba, has urged the national leadership of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) to immediately dissolve the Cross River State working committee of the party and appoint an interim one in its place. In a petition he wrote to the PDP National Chairman, Ahmed Adamu Mu’azu, the Senate leader also asked that “the National Working Committee (NWC) takes over forthwith all other processes relating to the outstanding aspects of our timetable.” $1.55bn Lekki port project targets 2018 as business commencement date – Business Day Lekki deep seaport, Nigeria’s biggest seaport project estimated to cost over $1.55 billion worth of investment capital, has set 2018 as its business commencement date as well as operational take-off date. This is as the construction work of the port project has been estimated to take a total of 47 months. Currently, the promoters of the port project have completed all critical project documentations, including the concession agreement, the engineering procurement and construction (EPC) contract and the sub-concession agreement, and appointed an operator for the container terminal. The lender group, which has conducted due diligence process to ensure the bankability of the project, came onboard in 4th-quarter 2012 and 1st-quarter 2013. Also, the lender group has accepted the market due diligence that underlines the throughput projections, revenue for the project and technical due diligence approving that the port is capable of handling the projected throughput. There’s no monopoly in the Pay-TV sector- Vanguard Mr. John Ugbe, Managing Director, MultiChoice Nigeria, challenges the notion that MultiChoice is a monopoly See more at: vanguardngr/2014/11/theres-monopoly-pay-tv-sector/#sthash.o7sSQg6z.dpuf Lai Mohammed Jonathan’s declaration insensitive – APC – The Nation The All Progressives Congress (APC) said Tuesday that President Goodluck Jonathan was insensitive to the plight of Nigerians who are daily falling victims of Boko Haram attacks. They accused him of dancing on the graves of Boko Haram victims. In a statement made available to The Nation in Abuja, the party said the decision of the President to declare his second term bid a day after about 50 students were killed in a suicide attack in Potiskum, Yobe State, was callous. The statement signed by the party’s National Publicity Secretary, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, said it was unfortunate that the President chose to celebrate a national tragedy, saying that “since this President has opted to celebrate a national tragedy, Nigerians should also be ready to celebrate his electoral failure next year.” How Senators arm-twisted Jonathan for automatic ticket– Daily Independent At the moment, uneasy calm currently pervades the Wadata Plaza National Headquarter of the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), the various state chapter secretariats of the PDP and the Nigerian Senate, over the boiling issue of automatic ticket given to about forty cognate and select number of Senators to return to the National Assembly in the 2015 general elections by the Presidency and the leadership of the PDP. The party led by the former governor of Bauchi state, Adamu Muazu, is already in a fix over how to resolve the gridlock which arose from the handing over of party structure to governors in PDP controlled states – which would enable the governors determine, with magisterial impunity, who becomes what in their states in 2015 – vis a vis the request for automatic tickets by returning PDP Senators. Whereas, granting automatic tickets to PDP senators was intended to placate them for their supposed loss at home, the decision may have unwittingly opened up political sores in some states. NNPC needs $453m to bid for Shell’s assets –Report - National Mirror The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC, is sourcing for funds to enable it pay the $453m bid price for the 45 per cent stake owned by Shell, Total and ENI, in Oil Mining Lease, OML 25, located onshore Eastern Niger Delta. According to African Oil and Gas Report, the Minister of Petroleum Resources, Mrs. Diezani Allison-Madueke has approved the move to raise funds from third parties. “The government company pre-empted the sale of the asset to a special purpose vehicle, including Nigerian Independent Crestar Integrated Natural Resources Limited (55 per cent) and Canadian Minnow James Bay Resources (45 per cent), invoking its right of first refusal,” it stated. Yobe govt closes schools, as EU condemns killings – Tribune The National Leadership of the Nigeria Union of Teachers (NUT) has frowned at the inability of the Federal Government to secure the Nigerian schools, making innocent students vulnerable to heinous activities of insurgents raging in the North-East. National President of NUT, Comrade Michael Ologba Olukoya, said the union was particularly outraged with the suicide attack on Government Science Technical School, Yobe, on Monday, killing over 48 students and several others injured. Olukoya in a statement made available to newsmen in Abuja on Tuesday, recalled that the Monday attack had made it the fifth of such gruesome attacks on schools, leaving so many students dead and scores of others maimed and injured. BBC African Footballer Award: Enyeama battles Toure, Gervinho- The Sun Super Eagles first choice keeper, Vincent Enyeama has been nominated for BBC’s African Footballer of the year award. The Lille of France keeper is amongst the five nominees for the award billed for December. Enyeama is nominated alongside title holder Yaya Toure, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, Yacine Brahimi and Gervinho CAF, and its president Issa Hayatou, have banned original 2015 Africa Cup of Nations host Morocco from Januarys finals Original hosts Morocco barred from 2015 Africa Cup of Nations– CNN Morocco should be just two months away from hosting Africas biggest sporting event. Instead, the country has been barred from taking part in the 2015 Africa Cup of Nations. National coach Badu Zaki should be fine tuning preparations for his team, perhaps hopeful of success given that over a third of Nations Cup hosts have won the tournament. Now his team isnt even allowed to compete. That was the punishment meted out by the Confederation of African Football (CAF) on Tuesday, after Moroccan officials refused to host the Nations Cup in January because they fear the spread of Ebola.
Posted on: Wed, 12 Nov 2014 09:27:48 +0000
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